There is no physically tiring this dog out. I can take him on a six to seven mile run followed by him and dog housemate running around the yard and his chasing the ball around over and over again … and he is still raring for more. And first five minutes or so of a person coming in (or even my wife first coming downstairs) still goofy excited for company. He’ll keep the down stay but we can’t keep him on command a whole visit.
Once the novelty wears off he calms back down but yes it is hard for these dogs to live in a household without a hard daytime job to have to concentrate on.
Our dogs Kizzy and Simi are doing agility and they love it. We have a home course of jumps, weave pole setups, a tunnel. A teeter, a vertical hoop, and will be getting/building an A-Frame. They go once a week to a “real” course and practice in front of a trainer.
We had. a GSD, Kali, who did nose work and got really good. I would take her outside while my gf dipped the end of a q-tip bud into training scent (balsam?), then snipped the tip of and put it into a matchbox sized screened container. She’d hide the container somewhere, remove her gloves, and come out to get us.
Kali would tear through the house like mad, but with a plan, and she’d find it. Great fun.
My gf probably spends12 hours a week with the dogs doing agility.
Doubling back to this: letting anything other than already extremely well trained well proofed on recall under distraction off leash in an urban or suburban woods?
My sister is reading some BS clickbait (I keep trying to break her of the habit, but she’s seriously addicted) on the worst breed of dog for your zodiac sign. Mine is this dog breed!
As @kayaker says, it takes a lot of equipment and a rural-sized yard to do agility training. And lots of time. One of my co-workers is into that stuff and it’s a huge space-, time-, and money sink.
Mary Lou lives in a one-bedroom apartment in an old folk’s home. And is an old folks herself.
While I think nose work is the better fit in this specific circumstance I dispute those requirements for a non-serious dog-owner dyad to do an agility class or two with practice out of class. Yes people can get serious and spend many hours a week and a fenced in yard (even small) available to use helps, but basic agility practice training can be done with lightweight cheap tunnel, a Hulu hoop, and some sticks to use as weave poles. And being in basic agility class both trains the owner and gives them a taste of how to work with their dog. It also may build a dog’s confidence. “Old folks” can and have done agility work with their dogs just fine.
I don’t approve of dogs not being properly trained. I have experience with dogs difficult to control and train and I wouldn’t want to jump into that. At the same time I’ll bet Mary Lou and her little terror love each other and depend on each other. So there are worse untrained dog situations than that.
@ThelmaLou if you don’t want to try any training you can still befriend the beast with treats and he might be better behaved around you then. The nosework idea is excellent. I haven’t done any but I’ve seen dogs that love it. A nearby shelter has a nosework program for their dogs, and dog owners can bring in their buddies to participate as well. By all accounts dogs love this.
The diplomacy part is important. You don’t need to tell Mary Lou that her dog is not well behaved. Just tell her how much you like her dog and that you want to become better friends with him. If you want to try other things you can frame it as an opportunity for you to get to know him better. Sometimes dogs can be trained to behave with certain people but can still have a relationship like Mary Lou’s where the dog will be running around and barking like crazy around her, and then act fine around you. Kids can be like that too.
Best of luck with everything, moving, the dog, and anything else.
You should. I read this thread with much interest being a dog owner and graduate of several dog training classes. But I was most excited to read about your new place, especially that it’s affordable. Yay!
